Fiancé’s weird understanding re professional sports men / women and qualifications

[EL8888]

Randomly chatting with fiancé last night, he reckons if you have done sport to a professional level e.g. for gymnastics, football etc. You don’t really need to bother to do GCSE’s or A levels. You’re too busy with your sport and that demonstrates your dedication. Later on if you want to do a degree then they let you in, even if you don’t have the correct requirements or sufficient qualifications. Not sure where he had got this from and l don’t think it’s correct which l told him. For some reason this has really aggravated him and claims lm being judgemental. It’s more l don’t think it’s factually correct and practically doesn’t make sense e.g. why would someone be accepted on a psychology degree but don’t even have GCSE biology. Or do English literature but they didn’t do it A level or even GCSE. It would make things difficult for the person doing the course, plus hard for tutors and peers if that person didn’t have a basic groundings in things. What makes this even funnier is l even used to work in admissions for a university but lm still wrong apparently

Every sports person I've known has had another job or back up plan because of the shortness of the first career.

Is he getting mixed up with sports scholarships to US Colleges?

In the US it’s common to have sports scholarships and bursaries at college but the athletes still have to meet a minimum academic standard though.

I also think it may be true decades ago that if you were an apprentice footballer etc the clubs would not really press for you to have a good education but I think it’s very different now.

He's not completely wrong. It depends on the subject and the university.
You do tend to need at least gcse English and Maths (or equivalent ) for university entry at any age but mature student's are looked at differently to school leavers with regards other qualifications such as other GCSEs and A levels.
Depending on other factors - experience and other qualifications they may need to do an access course first.

I have known some very high level athletes. They had to do it all whilst training. Including work in regular jobs. Then when it was over they still had an income.

It’s a very tough life.

@Aroundtheworldin80moves no he thinks UK

What makes it even funnier again, is l was in the same school year and classes as someone who played sport at an international and Olympic level. She did GCSE’s and A levels with the rest of us. But lm still wrong

I represented GB in my sport as a teen. I took my GCSEs at a different time to the rest of my year as I was competing abroad but I still had to take them.
Obviously, anyone can choose not to take them but it’s not a get out of jail free card.

Are you sure you want to marry someone who is so dismissive of your knowledge? Particularly when that knowledge is based on actual professional experience?

[quote EL8888]@Aroundtheworldin80moves no he thinks UK

What makes it even funnier again, is l was in the same school year and classes as someone who played sport at an international and Olympic level. She did GCSE’s and A levels with the rest of us. But lm still wrong[/quote]
You aren't completely correct though ..... you must know that mature students are treated differently. It is possible to get onto a degree course without relevant GCSEs or A levels providing you've done an access course.

There is a lot of flexibility in the university admissions process for some courses.

@TheDevils oh yes, mature students are different l agree with but he claims even if sportsperson wants to go university at 18 or 19 they can circumvent the requirements. He reckons access courses and the like wouldn’t be required from this group

If you want to do a degree later on as a mature student, you'll probably have to do an access course first if you lack the relevant GCSE's and A Levels.
Universities normally want a minimum of 5 GCSEs with English and Maths to a certain grade (C and above) and the equivalent of 2 A levels, depending enormously on the university and the course.

A lot of degree courses require specific knowledge which is gained during A levels. You can't do a chemistry degree for example if you've just spent your teens playing football.

[quote EL8888]@TheDevils oh yes, mature students are different l agree with but he claims even if sportsperson wants to go university at 18 or 19 they can circumvent the requirements. He reckons access courses and the like wouldn’t be required from this group[/quote]
Well obviously that's not correct. You are right about admissions for that age group.

I taught a Paralympian. She did her training on top of school work and hospital appointments/operations. She got good GCSEs and then 3 decent A Levels to get her into the course she wanted to do at uni. I think she's just finished uni, having continued training all the way through but still completing all the course work that everyone else was required to do.

@TheDevils l am correct in thinking mature students are subject to different requirements. But 18, 19 and 20 year olds are not mature students. I think we cross posted

A top level athlete could probably get onto a sports degree course more easily without conventional qualifications.

@BloomingTrees

A top level athlete could probably get onto a sports degree course more easily without conventional qualifications.

Yes, was going to post similar. That's probably the main exception really if more mature and wanted to go into something in sports related field.

Well mature students are often accepted into undergrad courses if they can demonstrate a relevant work experience for the field if they don’t have A levels - I myself completed an undergrad without A levels but I had another industry related qualification that allowed me to access the BA.

So perhaps he is confusing himself somewhere.

In theory you could get into university without the formal qualifications required but it’s unlikely unless you are a mature student. A 19 year old isn’t going to be accepted to study Law without A levels or equivalent just because they played Hockey at a professional level.

I know for a fact that US students who are coming on part scholarship to UK universities for MAs still have to meet a minimum GPA for instance.

To be honest he doesn’t really sound like he knows what he’s talking about and considering you actually worked in the field it’s a bit of a piss take to refuse to admit you have more knowledge in the area. Class mansplaining

@BloomingTrees exactly. He claims l am judgemental and snobby. But it’s being practical e.g. l did GCSE chemistry but l wouldn’t be up to doing a chemistry degree. Why would someone with no science GCSE’s be able to do it?

[quote EL8888]@TheDevils l am correct in thinking mature students are subject to different requirements. But 18, 19 and 20 year olds are not mature students. I think we cross posted[/quote]
Yes, I think we did.
Based on the extra information you posted, you are absolutely correct.

I also worked in university admissions ( for 10 years) and I'm now an admissions tutor.

Does he always think he's right even if he has no knowledge or experience in the subject? I used to be married to one of them and it wasn't fun - started of with low level misogyny and developed into something much worse.

@Bananarama101 l agree about sports / sports science degrees as that makes sense and there is some cross over. Not for English, chemistry, psychology, midwifery etc

@BloomingTrees

A top level athlete could probably get onto a sports degree course more easily without conventional qualifications.

Only if they also had A level biology!

For some reason this has really aggravated him and claims lm being judgemental.

Are you absolutely sure you want to marry this eejit him?

@TheDevils yep he often thinks he’s right! This
I thought it was blatant mansplaining but l didn’t want to write that. To see if other people thought the same. Especially galling as l have professional experience and actually know 2 different people who were Olympians. As l wrote earlier, they did qualifications like the rest of us

My friend was a Paralympian and also a barrister. I'm pretty sure she had to do O levels and A levels before she went to law school.

@YoungWerther lm not being judgemental, it’s the fact he’s wrong! I am wondering why l bother to be perfectly honest

@TheLovelinessOfDemons see it’s weird we all have these experiences and associates but l am wrong!!